This Better Than Starbucks Ginger Molasses Cookies recipe is EXACTLY what the name suggests: they’re crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside and bursting with sweetness and a sharp ginger flavour. They’re one of our most popular recipes ever and they’re SO easy to make.
It dawned on me recently that I’ve been making cookies for almost 25 years. Now, I realize that doing something for a long time doesn’t necessarily make you an expert, but I would like to think that I’ve learned a thing or two about baking cookies over the years and that I have at least a few cookie recipes that I’ve perfected…and these Ginger Molasses Cookies definitely fall into the perfection category!
This recipe is SO MUCH BETTER than the Starbucks Ginger Molasses Cookies Recipe, so if you’re a fan of those cookies these will become your new favourite. They’re not dry like some ginger-flavoured cookies can be and they’ve got the perfect balance of sweet molasses, spicy ginger, and warm cinnamon. They’re so soft that they almost melt in your mouth.
If you’re still buying the Starbucks’ Ginger Molasses cookies with your morning coffee then you obviously haven’t tried this recipe! I’m telling you, once you try these cookies you won’t find yourself in the Starbucks drive thru line up anymore (unless it’s to get a latte to dunk these bad boys in)!
To make this molasses cookies recipe, you’ll need these kitchen items (affiliate links):
- mixing bowls and a hand mixer OR a stand mixer
- a silicone spatula
- measuring cups and spoons
- a cookie scoop
- a baking sheet or two
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To make this molasses cookies recipe, you’ll need:
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- molasses
- all purpose flour
- salt
- baking soda
- ground cinnamon
- fresh or powdered ginger
- ground cloves
Time needed: 45 minutes
Follow these tips for the BEST Starbucks ginger molasses cookies ever!
- Start with cool butter.
Leave your butter out of the fridge for about 20 minutes before using so it’s soft enough to mix but hard enough to keep its shape.
- Don’t forget the spices!
Don’t skimp on the spices, and use fresh ginger instead of powdered ginger for an intense ginger flavour.
- Chill the dough only if it’s soft.
If your dough feels extra soft, refrigerate it for up to 30-60 minutes so it firms up enough to form into balls.
- Use a cookie scoop.
For evenly-sized cookies, use a cookie scoop to portion the batter so all the balls of dough are the same size. Check out the cookie scoop we use HERE (affiliate link).
- Dip the dough balls in sugar.
For the gorgeous crinkly top, dip the top of the dough balls in granulated sugar before baking.
- Let the cookies cool on their pans.
If you attempt to remove them from the pans too soon they’ll be raw in the middle and they’ll probably fall apart since they actually finish baking completely AFTER they’ve been removed from the oven (the heat of the pan continues to bake the cookies even out of the oven). If you can muster up the patience to let them cool before moving them, you’ll be absolutely amazed at the result……a crispy, sugary exterior with a soft, chewy interior.
Why is the dough so soft?
If your dough is soft, it’s probably because your butter has a water content that’s too high. Try refrigerating the dough for 30-60 minutes before rolling.
If your cookies spread a lot in the oven, they likely contain too much butter, butter that’s too warm, or low quality butter that has a high water content.
Yes! Simply make the recipe as directed and either store the unbaked dough in the fridge for up to 2 days until ready to use, OR store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Adding molasses to cookie dough adds a dark brown colour, adds lots of flavour and sweetness, and it creates a chewy moist texture.
Molasses cookies are usually soft and chewy and gingerbread cookies are usually harder in texture and crunchy.
They’re likely over-baked. Molasses cookies are at their best when they’re very soft (too soft to move) when removed from the oven.
I hope you enjoy this Best Ever Ginger Molasses recipe below! Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite cookie? I’d love to know!
Looking for more delicious recipes like this one? You’ll LOVE these:
EASY NO-FAIL HOLIDAY RECIPES AND COOKING & BAKING TIPS
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Watch the video below to see exactly how I make this homemade treat. You can find more delicious recipe videos on my YouTube channel
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Ginger Molasses Cookies
Recipe: Equipment
Recipe: Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger or powdered ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/3 cup white sugar for rolling
Recipe: Instructions
- Add the butter to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream on medium-high speed until soft, creamy, and slightly pale in color.
- Add the sugar and beat on medium high speed for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times.
- Beat in the eggs on medium high speed one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.
- Beat in the molasses and scrape down the bowl to ensure everything is evenly combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until no streaks of flour remain. Scrape down the sides to make sure everything is incorporated.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough into about 36 balls. Roll the top of each ball in granulated sugar and place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
- Bake each sheet of cookies for 10-11 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet. They'll firm up as they cool, giving you that perfect crispy-outside, chewy-inside texture.
Recipe: Notes
- Butter temperature: Let butter sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before mixing. It should be soft but still hold its shape.
- Fresh vs. powdered ginger: Fresh ginger gives a sharper, more intense flavor. Powdered works in a pinch.
- Molasses type: Use regular (light or dark) molasses. Avoid blackstrap, which is too bitter.
- Soft dough fix: If dough is too soft or sticky, chill it in the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes before scooping.
- Don’t overbake: Pull the cookies when they still look soft. They continue baking on the hot pan as they cool.
- Sugar coating: Rolling the tops in sugar creates the signature crinkly tops.
- Storage: Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: Freeze baked cookies for up to 6 months. Layer with parchment to prevent sticking.
Recipe: Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Can you freeze these cookies? I like baking ahead at CHRISTmas.
Yes, absolutely! They freeze very well!!
I stumbled across your recipe on Pinterest and the description sounded inviting! I have been on a lifestyle change so when I make anything worth eating, especially sweets, I am in for the real food! I love fresh baked cookies. So I made your recipe using the fresh ginger (my first use of fresh ginger :))Instead of rolling in granulated sugar, i used a 1" cookie scoop, dropped the dollop in raw sugar, coating the outside. After doing this, making 51 cookies, I froze them on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, I placed in a freezer bag. When my treat time comes around, I remove 1-2 cookies and bake in my toaster oven for about 13-15 minutes. Once they cool off, they are DELICIOUS!
Thank you for sharing this recipe with us. It really is a keeper.
Thanks so much! I'm totally loving your philosophy on treats 🙂
Seriously dangerous cookies. I'm a gingerholic and always in search of a good ginger recipe. I also love Starbuck's ginger cookies and have tried a few copycat recipes but nothing comes close to this one. I even changed it into a vegan recipe using vegan "butter" and "eggs" and it's still outstanding! Well done!
Thanks so much Lesley! I'm so glad you loved them!
Can you use margarine instead of butter?
You can, although it will change the texture slightly. If you do, try a very high quality margarine with a low water content 🙂
can these be packaged in cello bags for gifting?
Absolutely! What a great holiday gift idea!!
Have you tried these with less sugar?
Great question! I have cut the sugar by about 1/4 cup or so, and it didn't make too much difference. My philosophy with recipes like this is to enjoy them with the full amount of sugar but only once in awhile. 🙂
I'm not sure if I should thank you for this recipe…..I'm on my second batch as the first were looked at warily…..then inhaled with "MORE PLEASE" from my husband and "please don't make these anymore because I can't stop eating them" from my daughter??? they are seriously delicious! (Thank you ?)
So glad to hear your family is enjoying them!! They're my family's favourite too 🙂
Haven't made the cookies yet… because I got SO frustrated with the share bar blocking out the furthest edge of the recipe!! Just something to maybe look into changing on the website back end…
So sorry to hear that was your experience Rose. If it's possible to expand the window you're viewing it in that should fix the problem (I've programmed my site to have the largest margin that's possible). Hope that helps!
Rose – if there is anything past the .html in the URL, delete that. You may just have the mobile website link… that's what happened to me when I found this page on Pinterest!
If you zoom in on the webpage it will move the recipe text towards the right.
What kind of molasses did you use for this recipe? Very excited to try
I use Crosby's molasses (I live in Canada) but I'm sure any brand of molasses would work. Hope you enjoy them!
Also, I made these at high altitude (9100 ft). I did not change the recipe, But increased the time at 375 to almost 15 minutes.
Thanks Jessica! That's great to know!
THESE ARE AMAZING! Total hit with picky eaters. Made some saturday, they are almost gone. Chewy and crunchy. I added shredded fresh ginger and candied ginger too.
Thanks so much Jessica!! So glad you enjoyed them!
I made them but ended up with 60 good sized cookies! Also had to increase the baking time by five minutes- go figure! They're delicious!
So glad you're enjoying them!! Good to know about increasing the baking time…every oven is different!
Can you make these gluten free??
I'm not sure, Sara. I've never tried making them with gluten free flour, but I'm sure that if you have a reliable gluten-free flour blend that is comparable to all purpose flour then they might work. You'll have to give them a try and let me know how it goes!
We made these gluten free with the pc gluten free all purpose flour and they taste amazing! The only thing that we did differently is we added a touch more flour (5 cups total).
So glad they turned out amazing!!🙂
can you make them bigger
Yes, you can make them larger, but you'll have to adjust the baking time accordingly. Thanks!
Can you added chopped up pieces of crystallized ginger?
Saved to my cookies board, I always loved Starbucks, so I have to try this one!
Thanks Sara!
These look perfect, I LOVE LOVE molasses cookies – even though my husband hates them so I rarely get to make them! Thanks for sharing!
Just posted a new cookie recipe on the blog today, would love if you checked it out!
xoxo http://www.touchofcurl.com
Thanks so much!
On my MAKE IT list!
Thanks! Hope you enjoy them!
I love ginger and these cookies look like an amazing use of freshly grated ginger. (I have a pinterest board called "Ginger Every Which Way – to which I pinned this, of course:) I might add a bit of candied ginger, just because I can never resist.
Thanks so much! Let me know how you like the addition of candied ginger!!
I have everything I need for these except molasses. I so want to make these this week! Pinned for later 🙂
Thanks Chelsea! Hope you enjoy them!
Oh my, how did you know this is my favorite combo? watch out starbucks! Chrissie has you beat!
Ha Ha! It's my favorite combo too! Thanks 🙂
One of the worst cookie recipes I've found. The "dough" was way too soft. The cooking time made them hard and they were gummy like toffee when cooked any less. Super disappointed. Made these for my sons teachers and had to start from scratch at 10:00 at night. As a newish Baker, I followed the recipe to the T and they did NOT turn out like the ones in the picture. Ugh.
I just made these and they turned out great, however one of my sheets came out very flat and slightly tacky. I baked them for the same amount of time because I use a timer religiously with my baking and the oven was properly preheated; so that leaves the only other variable which could have potentially affected my cookies; my baking sheets. One is a fancy expensive wilton brand and the other is a cheap aluminum sheet. And I’ve noticed this slightly with other cookie batches, but it really made a difference with these cookies. Believe it or not I prefer how my cookies turn out when I bake them on the cheap aluminum pan from Was-Mart better than my fancy Wilton sheet. I know it’s a stretch to say it was your baking sheets that caused it, but there could be random variables that could have caused it potentially. And you did mention you were fairly new to baking so it’s very possible you could have made a newbie baker mistake. Anything from not de-clumping your flour before measuring to not properly leveling off your flour and other dry ingredients while measuring to not sufficiently chilling your dough can affect the outcome.
Yes, that’s exactly right. There are so many variables. Lining baking sheets with parchment paper can help prevent issues like this too, but even then baking sheets can definitely affect the outcome. 🙂
Hi Christie
Thank you for this recipe. I’ve made it several times to perfection snd rave reviews and passed your recipe along to requesters. However I just made a batch and they did not puff up snd crinkle like the previous batches. Only thing different this time is I used unsalted butter that I had frozen thawed and left to soften at room temp. ( it was on sale snd I stocked up. ) could this be a factor in the cookies not rising an d crinkling?
I want to get this recipe back on track so many thanks for any suggestions.
Marsha
It would probably be a good idea to chill the cookies for an hour before baking them, as the temperature of the butter can make or break this recipe.
Mine always turn out great and are my kids favorite cookies! One thing I do that I think makes almost any cookie better is once done mixing the cookies I scoop them on to a parchment lined baking sheet. I then put the baking sheet in my freezer for a few hours and bag the dough balls up once frozen. I then bake them off as needed. This process makes a more tender cookie (in my opinion) and prevents over spreading. I hope this helps 🙂
Thanks so much for the feedback! I often freeze this dough too and it works great this way. So glad you like the cookies!
Such a great idea so you’re not eating too many! 😉
Do they need to be defrosted before baking them? Or could that be a good thing? (I imagine they would need more time).
I had the exact same disappointing experience. So sad.
Ginger Bends instead of Ginger Molasses
🙁
Another variable is the flour. This is a Canadian recipe, and if Anonymous is from somewhere else the flour is probably different. E.g., if I make an American recipe and I’m using Canadian flour I reduce the amount a little bit because our all-purpose flour is different from American all-purpose flour (especially different from that used in the South).
Sounds like you did something wrong.
These are one of the best cookies I have ever made
I'm so sorry they didn't turn out for you! It sounds to me like one of a few possible problems: first, perhaps the butter you used was too warm, making the dough softer than it should have been, or perhaps the butter you used had a higher water content than normal. Second, did you chill the dough like the recipe suggests? This is a critical step to ensure the dough is hard enough to roll into balls. Third, the fact that they turned out hard suggests that perhaps your oven is actually hotter than it should be. A simple oven thermometer will help with this. Again, I'm sorry you didn't have success with this recipe! Everyone in my family has made it for years and years, so I hope you try it again and have some success!
These are hands down the best molasses cookies!! I brought them to a Christmas Party and everybody went nuts. I almost felt embarrassed how many times people came up to me!!!
Ha ha! So glad you loved the recipe! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Can you use dark brown sugar instead of white? Will it make a big difference?
It would add too much moisture I think, so I wouldn’t recommend it. It would likely work, however the texture of the cookies would change.